"Joyce Tyldesley's book illuminates for the first time one hitherto uncertain aspect of everyday existence in the Nile Valley: it unmasks ancient Egyptian criminals and their misdemeanours. Tyldesley recreates meticulously a series of crimes, from grave robbing, false embalming, necrophilia and bestiality, to a vivid recreation of the 'murder' of Tutankhamen (which reassesses the evidence for his unlawful killing). She also introduces us to the town of Deir el-Medina and its inhabitants, which was the dwelling place of the craftsmen and their families who worked in the nearby Valley of the Kings, building and maintaining the royal tombs. Their crimes and transgressions were carefully recorded and provide an eloquent record of ancient Egyptian attitudes towards sex and death, property and punishment."--Jacket
Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-191) and index
Introduction: law in action -- Maat and the king -- The vizier: upholder of justice -- Officers of the law -- Crimes and punishments -- Loss of liberty -- Regicide: the ultimate rebellion -- Tutankhamen: a murder mystery? -- The second oldest profession -- The robbers of the West Bank -- The villager and the oracle -- Sex crimes -- The last judgement
